Family Tree

This 28-track collection of lo-fi home recordings-- many of which have been available on bootlegs for years-- was produced on a reel-to-reel at Drake's parent's estate, recorded on cassette while Drake was studying in Aix En Provence, France, or made in conjunction with other members of the late singer-songwriter's family.

In a 1994 interview with Mojo magazine, Nick Drake's longtime producer, Joe Boyd, assured fans that "Everything releasable has been released." Boyd's pledge seems almost laughable now: As Drake's tombstone famously, presciently reads, "Now we rise and we are everywhere."

The bulk of the material on the 28-track Family Tree-- a new collection of lo-fi home recordings produced on a reel-to-reel at Drake's parent's estate, Far Leys, plus eight tracks recorded on cassette while Drake was studying in Aix En Provence, France, one duet with his sister, Gabrielle, and two songs written and performed by his mother, Molly-- has already circulated widely on bootlegs, traded, and cherished by Drake completists, many of whom acquired the cuts by making a pilgrimage to Far Leys and requesting music from Drake's parents, who once welcomed their son's grieving fans.

Even though some of these tracks have been around for years, posthumously publicizing Drake's private home recordings still feels a bit like an ethical landmine-- already, a glut of releases (compilations, unreleased recordings, greatest hits) is marring an otherwise-pristine three LP legacy, and dipping into something as personal and unfinished as home demos can seem a bit opportunistic, vaguely unnecessary, and maybe even a tiny bit cruel: Although his music is eerily ubiquitous in 2007, Nick Drake was a commercial failure in his lifetime, selling only a middling number of records before overdosing in 1974, at age 26.

Still: Compiled by Drake's sister, Gabrielle, produced by his estate manager, Cally, and mixed by beloved engineer John Wood (who also produced Pink Moon, and recorded Drake's first two records), it seems likely that Family Tree was created and realized with the very best intentions. In the liner notes, Gabrielle, addressing her brother in an open-ended letter, is cautious, apologetic: "Up till now, every decision I have taken-- I have been allowed to take-- on your behalf about your music has been guided by what I believe might have met with your approval...But now, I am endorsing the publication of an album that I am not at all sure you would have sanctioned."

Most cuts feel unfinished-- four are clearly sketches, clocking in at under one minute – and nothing here is particularly revelatory, but Family Tree is still worth snatching up if you're interested in hearing how Drake's patented coo-and-strum developed: All tracks pre-date Drake's 1969 debut, Five Leaves Left (early versions of "Way to Blue" and "Day Is Done" both appear here), and it's not difficult to hear the budding folksinger's style build and expand.

Nick and Gabrielle pair up for a cover of traditional cut "All My Trials"; based on a Bahamian lullaby, the cut was an omnipresent protest song in the early 1960s, and its closing couplet-- "All my trials, Lord/ Soon be over"-- is typically read as optimistic, but given the gruesome ending of Nick Drake's story, the line (and Drake's muted delivery) suddenly seems ominous, foreboding. "All My Trials" is arguably the most riveting track here: Drake strums gently, and he and his sister harmonize (in the otherworldly way only siblings can), their voices naturally congruent, curling together, building on shared DNA.

Drake covers a handful of Jackson C. Frank songs ("Here Come The Blues", "Blues Run the Game", "Milk and Honey"), Robin Frederick's "Been Smoking Too Long" (which also appears on Time of No Reply), the traditional "My Baby's So Sweet", Bert Jansch's "Strolling Down the Highway", and Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow is a Long Time", but it's ultimately his own work that shines brightest-- now and, in all likelihood, forever.